Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Kartā
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Kartā.— Kartā and Kartāvu, meaning agent or doer, is an honorific title of Nāyars and Sāmantas. It is also the name for the chief mourner at funerals of Nāyars and other castes on the west coast. Kartākkal, denoting, it is said, governors, has been returned, at times of census by Balijas claiming to be descendants of the Nāyak kings of Madura and Tanjore.